Friday, December 21, 2012

MY FIRST TWO-WHEELER


“Now you own a Schwinn Bicycle!” the announcement, circa 1960, began.  Coiled into a tiny tube and tied tightly with curling ribbon, the owner’s manuals for our new Schwinn three-speeds hung among the branches of the Christmas tree like an ornament. 
     

December 25th dawned and brother Beebo and I awoke early, as young children still close to single digits in years are wont to do.  We tittered and giggled and fingered the bounty of wrapped packages beneath the tree until Mom and Dad wandered in, bleary-eyed this Christmas morn.  Their arrival signaled something akin to the bugler’s call at Churchill Downs.  Within minutes I was in possession of a new cap six-shooter, a felt cowboy hat, a copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and, I suppose, a mom-sewn shirt or a pair of Towncraft jeans from JC Penney.  Likewise for Beebo.  It wasn’t until the last of the wrapping paper had floated to rest on the floor that Mom and Dad reached into the branches and pulled out the coiled manuals.  Cluelessly, we leafed through them briefly and shrugged thinking, “That’s really odd.  We don’t own Schwinn bicycles.” We tossed the brochures amongst the mountain of wrapping paper and returned to pointing our six shooters at each other. 

Breakfast was served on the former screened in porch between the kitchen and the patio and it wasn’t until halfway through a waffle laced with bacon and drowned in Log Cabin syrup that Mom’s patience ran out.  “Why don’t you boys just stop and look?” she asked with a familiar tone of exasperation in her voice. 

She was pointing to the patio.  Outside the window rested two brand new Schwinn Bicycles: the Racer models with Sturmey Archer three speed gears and skinny tires beneath pinched front metal fenders.  These bikes were likes of which big kids – college kids! and adults rode.  Heck!  Dad commuted to work at the Post Office every day on a Schwinn Traveler model quite similar to these beauties. 

Still clad in pajamas, we bolted out the back door. Beebo claimed a big blue one and a slightly smaller red one waited for me.  We kicked up the kickstands, pointed them to the gravel drive and began pedaling out toward the road.  Pride of the neighborhood, we now had means of personal transportation to and from school, over to the CARD Pool, down to town for a Saturday matinee at the El Rey, on rides through Bidwell Park with Mom and Dad and the freedom to go just about anywhere in the world we wanted.  (I even rode mine up the Honey Run – and I do mean up – to neighboring Paradise, California, some 16 miles away one spring day to see a girl who’s door I ultimately didn’t have the courage to knock on.)


A couple of summers later we used Dad’s 8N Ford tractor and a wooden skid to grade a racetrack around the perimeter of the four-and-a-half acres of almonds out back of the house.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the narrow tires of our Racers didn’t handle the dust and dirt clods of the orchard too well.  

One day, a neighbor kid named Curtis came by on his new Sting Ray.  A Sting Ray was a bicycle built on a tiny frame using small wheels with fat tires.  It sported an elongated “banana seat” molded to look like tuck ‘n’ roll.  Its high-rise handlebars wore sparkly grips the same color as the frame.  No three-speed, this single-geared, coaster brake marvel took to the dust and mud like it was engineered for it. On our racecourse, Curtis stood on the pedals and cranked them round and round.  When he came to the curve at the far corner of the orchard, he boldly put his foot down and bat-turned like he was pivoting on a peg.  Then down the straightaway he’d race.  Neither Beebo nor I could catch him. 

Awe struck, we knew what we needed to do.  Much as we were to revere our big Schwinn Racers, all of a sudden, they simply didn’t cut the mustard.


Vern Pullin had owned a bicycle dealership in downtown Chico for about 160 years.  It was said that the local Mechoopda Indians bought bikes from him before the white people settled the area.  Why would we not believe this?  His shop was located at Eighth and Broadway.   

The front room was a neatly arranged row of Schwinn’s latest offering.  The back room was a dark tangle of used frames, derelict wheels, seats, forks, and various parts.  It looked like a rat’s nest, but Mr. Pullin could burrow into that thicket and, within moments and without exception, return with exactly the part the customer needed.

Setting our bikes on their kickstands out front, we entered Vern Pullin’s ancient shop.  First in the neat row of shiny two-wheelers was a clutch of Sting Rays: red, green, blue, gold, every color imaginable.  I ran my hand along the length of the white vinyl banana seat on a metal-flake burgundy ‘Ray’ several times.  Mr. Pullin stood behind the worn oak display counter, ages-old grease ringing his cracked and weathered fingers.  He was flipping through a ledger of some sort and barely looked up.  Apparently little boys frequenting his store, pining for the latest and greatest Schwinn was nothing new to him.  After a time, he asked: “Help you boys?”

“We… we…  we wanna swing a trade for a couple of Sting Rays.” 

Vern looked us up and down.  “What cha got?”

We retreated to the sidewalk and began to wheel in our Racers.  He stopped us.  “Whoa, boys.  Whoa.  Them’s two mighty nice machines you got there.  I’ll bet they was Christmas presents not too long ago.”

“They were,” we unisoned.

“Well,” he said, scratching a gray stubble that looked permanent, “I’m not so sure Santee’d be too pleased if you was to give up a present he picked out special just for you.”

“I’m too old to believe in Santee,” I blurted, figuring it was far enough away from next Christmas for Santa to remember I might have said this.

Mr. Pullin dug at his chin a bit more.  “Tell you what.  I’ll call your mama and let her know how much I can offer you’n trade.”

“But she doesn’t…”

Raising an eyebrow, he turned to his ledger, leafed through a page or two and rattled off a phone number.  “I’ll call your mama.”  Unstated was and that’s final, boys.

We pedaled home.  Mom must have heard the crunching of our bicycle tires up the gravel drive.  She dropped the laundry she was hanging out and met us before we could settle the Racers on their kickstands.  The only part of the tirade I specifically recall was: “I’ll not have you roaring through the neighborhood like some damned motorcycle gang member!”


Fifty-plus years later, somewhere out behind Beebo’s house (on acreage similar to Mom and Dad’s) there is a collection of old bicycles gathered from years of our riding and then our children riding.  Deep in that pile of frames and wheels and rotted Brooks leather saddles, I suspect, one would find remnants of the old Schwinns.  With a little bit of grease and Tri-flow and polish and care, I’d wager they’d be fit to ride again.

Should that happen, I know one of Santa’s elves – an older one named Vern – will be viewing the scene, scratching his stubbly beard and smiling.

© 2012
Church of the Open Road Press

41 comments:

  1. You're so right about bicycles, I lived on mine as a kid in the summer.. built jumps, did trails thru woods, burned rubber, skids, wheelies..I knew I needed motorcycles from about 5 years old.

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  2. Back in the 70's I was the baddest 8 year old on the block on my green metalflake Shwinn Stingray. Bananna seat, sissy bar, and 12 inch apes. No tassels though.

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  3. Thanks for sharing it. My first bicycle was a single speed CCM, and I vividly recall when my parents traded it in for a 3-speed Raleigh. It was an excellent, sturdy machine, and with three gears, there wasn't a hill I could not climb! I tried to take it over a dirt jump once though, and that did not work out well for me, as I landed squarely on the upper frame tube. The bike was fine, though...

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  4. I rode my brother and sisters hand me downs,big heavy ballon tired schwinns we got from an older cousin. The first bike of my own was a 3 speed Raleigh that my father got from a friend and fixed up for me, which thinking about it may have started this whole thing of buying old bikes and fixing them up! I still have my 5 speed internal hub Raleigh with my paper route money when I was 13, then I got my Gitanne from there I moved to Italian with my Biacani 980 (still have)and now my Biacani Eros I have had since 98 and put about a thosand mikes a year on and a couple of MT bikes along the way. So there. If it has two wheels, I like it.

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  5. My first pedal bike was a 1970's Gremlin. I'll never forget it. Lime green with a slick in the back and a small tire in the front complemented by a banana seat and sissy bar. All my friends loved that bike. It was like riding a chopper.

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  6. My fist bike was a hand-me-down from my sister, a GIRLS bike! My parents bought me a new red 20 inch Schwinn boys bike for my 7th birthday. By the time I was 12 it had high rise bars, faux leopard shin banana seat, no fenders and a fat back tire. This explains my tendency to modify every motorcycle I own! Wow, I never realize the connection!

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  7. laughed so hard as I read this. What a glory those old bikes were. I never had the pleasure of the Sting Ray... much to old and sophisticated, I'm sure. But, I remember my first bike well. And I had my share of stories. But that is for another day.

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  8. My first bike was a Royce Union. I remember it well

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  9. Black, plain and heavy Bennoto in Venezuela. Rode it everywhere.

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  10. My first bike was built from pieces scavenged from the local landfill. Oddly enough it looked very much like modern BMX bikes. Had that bike in various incarnations (single-speed, three-speed, five speed) until I was 14 and could fit on a 10-speed "racing-style" bike that I built (you guessed it) from scavenged parts.

    Rode every evening after school on my paper route. At first it was half of my brother's route, but when he moved on to bigger and better things, I took over the whole thing. Went from 3 miles to 7 miles with several very steep hills. Needless to say I was in very good shape!

    I lusted after a Viscount that was in the window of a bike shop in Hagerstown. At $250 in 1976, that just wasn't going to happen...

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  11. Dad didn't have a lot of money for bikes. First one (at about 7 years old) was from a scrapyard, painted and straightened. Next was a JC Higgins from either Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Wards.

    When I was 13, I got a real English Racer, with a 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub and TWO caliper brakes! Big times!

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  12. Wish I had a photo of it. Got it when I was seven or eight, around 1956. Single speed, coaster brake, balloon tires, bright red and gold paint, little gold decal that said "Made in West Germany." Can't recall a brand name. It came at Xmas time and I didn't learn to ride it until spring, then I rode the wheels off it for a couple of years. The back alley was a gentle slope down from Ridge Ave and in those days all the apartment buildings threw the coal ash (clinkers) out in the alley for traction in the snow. In the summer you could pedal fast down the hill and do a power-slide around the corner in the loose clinkers just like a flat-tracker.

    In seventh grade I traded up to a Hercules three-speed with the Sturmey-Archer hub -- Hercules was the cheap brand by Raleigh. In the day we called the style "English racer." We didn't know about derailleurs and ten-speeds until about 1962. But I rode the Hercules through college -- and when I graduated in 1970 I left it unlocked outside the dorm for some neighborhood kid to salvage.

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  13. Yeah, get on a racing-style bike after years and years riding just motorcycles and it will scare the heck out of you. No tires, no suspension, no brakes ... in comparison. I've been hurt way worse in a bicycle crash than any motorcycle incident.

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  14. 'm a bit younger than some here, so started in the mid 70s with a little Stingray style bike, but quickly moved on to BMX riding and racing in the late 70s and early 80s. I still restore, collect and ride "vintage" BMX race bikes now.

    I think that many folks that grew up on subdued coloured cruiser style bicycles in the 50s and 60s definitely have a different set of experiences and expectations of motorcycles to those in the 70s and 80s who had BMXs with bright colours, lots of chrome and number plates! Sorta like V7Rs!

    If anyone has a frame they'd be willing to sell for one of those cool old 50s straight bar Schwinn 26" bikes, (Hornet or Phantom etc) let me know! Have a project build in the works...

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  15. It was 1938 and my brother Neal and I both got a brand new Wards Hawthorne adult bike with a battery operated head light and horn for Christmas. We were strongly warned that we couldn’t ride after dark. What you say a headlight and can’t use it………..nonsense I thought and several spankings later I understood my parents meaning and still I would stay out past dark, spanking included.

    I was bad about staying out after dark playing with neighborhood kids. Both my parents worked dad at the Ford garage as a mechanic and my mother at a day old bakery located across the street from the Tracy police department. My sister Wanda was a senior in high school and was involved in activities that kept her at school a couple hours longer than my brother and me.

    That was just enough time for me to get involved in some type of play that completely erased the time limit from my head and almost daily I was sent to pick out a switch for my spanking. Mom was the warden and executioner and would send me down to the basement with my switch and the warning she would be down shortly. It always seemed like an eternity before I heard those heavy footsteps coming down the staircase but she always kept her promise of the reward for breaking the rules. I have since concluded that mom got the worst end of this dance as she held one hand of mine while trying to keep up with my circling just about wore her out.

    Many times if I was on my bike and out late, my mother would send my brother out looking for me and when he found my bike out front of a friend’s house, he would then hide my bike, knock on the door to have the family send me out to go home. I would be looking around for my bike when big brother would ask me where did I leave it and then give me a ride home on his handlebars and then later coming back and riding my bike home. I can’t believe how many times I swallowed that bait.

    I still had that bike when I was 21 and owned a new Pontiac up in Grass Valley and my mother called me from LA to get permission to sell the Wards Hawthorne and I said yes. She later told me that a crippled boy came by to buy the bike but was very poor and she gave it to him with her blessings. Thanks Mom you did the right thing

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  16. About ten years ago, I dug out of Brother Beebo's barn a late 1960s era Peugeot 10-speed that I'd ridden to high school and college. When mountain bikes became the thing to have - and because I lived in the mountains for a while - I stashed the old Peugeot in the barn and nearly forgot about it.

    Back in the valley, I retrieved the thing and took it to the shop for a tune up. It is a real looker and ready for daily use. Unfortunately, so is the BMW and so is the Guzzi, therefore, the venerable ol' Peugeot is again gathering dust.

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  17. My first full size bike was a Sears JC Higgins tank bike that I was very rough on breaking the pedal crank and frame multiple times. From the JC Higgins I moved up to a Schwinn Corvette with lots of chrome and a 2 speed automatic hub and graduated to a 10 speed Peugeot. Today I have a Cannondale hybrid.

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  18. I guess it would've been 1973 or '74. Single speed standard with a fully functional coaster brake. The day I learned the art of a beautiful arcing power-slide was the day I learned that solid tires left a tooth-rattling flat spot. I clearly remember when the frame broke at the steering tube leaving me tumbling in slow motion holding onto a handle bar/front wheel while the back half of the bike fell out from underneath me. After that the folks upgraded me to a quality Huffy bmx unit with mag wheels.... Great memories or sure.

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  19. My first was a Schwinn Stingray as well. On my tenth birthday I decided to go a different route from all my friends and their BMX bikes. I got a new Schwinn Deluxe Cruiser. Big white wall balloon tires and a springer front end. Still have it, occasionally think about selling it, it only gets ridden once every other year or so. Lots of good memories though.

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  20. I came from a large family so we had a lot of hand-me-down garage sale bikes. Single speeds, 2 speeds(that you don't see much anymore) and 3 speeds. This was before you really saw cluster gears much, but I do remember 5 speeds (no multiple sprockets up front).

    I remember an old JC Higgins single speed I used on my paper route, no idea where it even came from, just an old derelict single speed boys bike we had hanging around. Put saddle bag baskets on it to haul papers, I worked that thing to death, tires every 6 months or so, a new basket once a year, I'd replace the kickstand once in awhile, but it wouldn't last very long and would break, so ended up just laying it on it's basket after it broke, while I delivered the paper (back in the old days, when you didn't just give the paper a toss, most times it went between the screen door and house door, sometimes in a mailbox).

    First new bike I bought (with paper route money) was a Raleigh Record 10 speed in yellow and black, when they were still made in Birmingham, England. Wish I still had it.

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  21. I had hand me down bikes until I was about 11...got a Stingray that year . Had some heavy duty paper boy bikes as well...had to upgrade the axles to a larger set because I broke them with 200+ papers I tried to carry in one load on Sundays. I left the driveway one day with a full load of Christmas ad papers and the bike stood up on it's tail when I met the road, leaving me hanging in air for a minute...my brother just howled.

    Had a heavy Raleigh 10 speed in Junior High, then discovered better European machines with Reynolds 531 frames (go figure) My current 8 year old 18speed is an American Cannondale frame with Italian Campy Record goodies. I was riding it when Helen pulled up on her m'cycle and told me to "get a motor" as she roared off from the light...I met her face to face a few years later and laughed about that encounter.

    Back to the OP...ooops

    It seems to me young kids do not take to bicycles as we did ...they get pissed and want a Nintendo instead...sadly.

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  22. First bike was in 1965 for Christmas, have no idea what brand it was, but it was the coolest bike ever!! Rode it until 1968 when I got a Schwinn StingRay for my birthday in March. It was the coolest bike ever!! It had a speedometer that went to 45 mph. It was reading 45 mph+ while I came down the hill as fast as I could and challenged a Cadillac to an occupied space. Hint, put your money on the Cadillac. The five speed stick shift was really cool, until I hit the Cadillac. It was replaced with a new Sting Ray. It was the coolest bike ever! In 1971 I got a Raleigh 10 speed with rams horns handlebars. Rode that until I went in the Navy in 1978. In 1971 I got a Trail Buck mini bike to learn to ride powered bikes. Rode it until I broke the frame doing jumps into sand blow outs in Wisconsin. After dad and grandpa welded the frame I rode it until I entered the Navy. Now I have a Specialized FSR first gen. All I need to really get into riding is is two functional lungs versus one. Roll Eyes My youngest son works in a bike shop and wants me to sell it, but I really can't bring myself to ride it right now, but some day.....

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  23. My first was a Schwinn balloon tire model, also a used bike. My dad knew the bike dealer and arranged for the bike to be refinished for Christmas. I later saved my money and added a 2 speed Bendix to it. I was 8. That bike still lives although the front fork stem is bent from a time when we built ramps for jumping.

    I had moved on to a slew of others, from 3speed to 15 speed. Didn't ever get to the composite bikes like my brother. His latest bike cost more than my first motorcycle.

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  24. My wife still has her first bike, a 1966 Schwinn Hollywood. When we got married in 2002, I rescued it from her mom's garage and spent several evenings rescuing the paint with Mcquires wax, and de rusting all the brightwork except the wheels and fenders, which I replaced as the originals were heavily pitted. That was Chris's Christmas present that year.

    The orignal wheels and fenders are still hanging in the garage, but replating is terribly expensive thanks to the EPA.

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  25. I'm pretty sure my dad's is still out there, but it weighs about 40 pounds. No wonder you guys couldn't race them...

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  26. Kammie - Back in the day, forty pounds was considered light! - Bumpa

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  27. My generation- the "war babies", we lived on bikes! My first came from Harding Wheel Co., in Topeka,KS ~ 1950. My Mom & I walked downtown & she bought me a blue, refurbed 26" balloon tire bike for $4. I had to use steps,etc., to get on & off and have been riding bikes & MC's ever since, to include some really neat pedal machines. I rode a nice 10sp to work in the 1960's when it was not so common & a nice Motobecane(I traded leather work to a hippie/head shop/bike shop owner for that bike) to class in the 70's when I returned to college One son raced NCAA road racing in college & oldest still does mtn bike long distance races in his late 30's.

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  28. No matter what the bike; most of the kids in my circle of friends clipped a playing card to the front fender brace. As they slapped on the spokes our bikes sounded (to us) like real motorbikes. We wore out a lot of cards and probably annoyed a lot of adults.

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  29. My first bicycle I believe was a Shelby, after it was about two years old I took it to a Western Auto store and it became a Wizard Motor Bike, this consisted of what appeared to be a lawn mower engine with a rope pull starter and a throttle control on the handle bars like a lawn mower. A belt went from the engine to a huge pulley now attached to he rear wheel spokes. If memory serves me right you could also get it started by peddling rapidly. For a 14 year old it was a blast.

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  30. My first "good" bike:

    My parents had to make payments to afford it. I got it for my 9th or 10th birthday. My parents were so mad at me because that bike was the first new bike they purchased and it cost sooo much $, and by day two of my ownership I had stripped the lights, rack, fenders, and chain guard off the bike!

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  31. My Dad bought me a new 26" "middle weight" J. C. Higgins bike from Sears for $36.88. It was a Christmas present n the late 50s. It didn't have as many spokes as most bikes and as a result, the wheels warped easily.

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  32. We were stationed in Japan when I was 7 and lived off post at first. Our neighbors were Japanese and had a son. I rode his bike. His father took the training wheels off so I had to learn to ride on two wheels, too. After we moved, I got my own Japanese bike. The front brake used a hand lever and a rod to work the front caliper and instead of a kickstand it had a center stand. I would rev the back wheel up to warp speed and launch off the center stand.

    When my own boy was 7, we got into BMX racing. My parents still had my sister's old Schwinn Stingray with the 5-speed she had when she was a kid. I dragged the old Stingray out of the shed, took off the rear wheel, replaced the slick with a knobby and put it on an extra BMX bike I had, mounting the shifter out of harms way on the lower frame tube. Thus, in 1980, was the first modern mountain bike created, beating by one year the first production mountain bike, the Specialized Stump Jumper, or at least I like to think so.

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  33. A used and repainted late 40's JC Higgins single speed bought for 8 bucks from a used bike shop, I got this about 1955 and had it for about 5 years. Learned to ride on it, It had no fenders which made riding on wet roads a messy affair. Living in Newark NJ it opened up my horizons beyond my own neighborhood. It was at that time safe to do so. great memories of a bygone era. Loved riding on the many cobblestone streets. Never had new tires on it always scrounged some used ones.

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  34. My first was a gold Murray Wildcat with a white banana seat. I fell in love with bicycles and love them still. Even with two motorcycles in my shop, I still put in more hours on my pedal-bikes. I have about six that are ready to ride at a moment's notice, but there must be about thirty-five in the stables right now. I still ride my '84 Trek 510 at least three times a week.

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  35. Early Schwinn Hornet, got it new for Christmas 1950. Big bike for a six year old and it was heavy. Dad had to put blocks on the pedals and I had to go to a telephone pole to get on and off. Served me well and went through many changes till it was replaced by a Raleigh three speed that didn't last a year till things started to fall apart. The Schwinn (or what was left of it) was still in the garage, and operational, when I pulled out of the driveway in my first car.

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  36. First Bike? Got me thinking, and being 65+ years ago I’m sure this may not be accurate? But as I remember and doing a little research. I think my first bike was a “V” bike, mostly a Columbia Vg 295, or after checking the web this is what I remember it looking like. I sure I was second/third owner it was paint pain black with no badges. I surely do remember the skinny tires. But then Christmas 1950 my dad purchased for me a new Western Flyer bike Green with Chrome tank and a horn. I was on proud puppy. How for the rest of the story in January, I had a friend mention that “Benny Bunch” had a Whizzler motor for sale and I thought Hummm. Well one faithful Saturday I pedaled over to Benny’s struck a deal for $10.00 including installation. Throw away the Chrome tank chopper up the rear fender and off I rode home. Been on two motorized wheels ever since. In fact the next winter February 15th to be exact I purchased my first MOTORCYCLE a 250 Indian Brave. Then the list goes on!

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  37. I was 6, big for my age, and ready for a 2-wheeler. I grew up on a farm, very rural. My dad picked up a 20 inch standard bike from the local Coast-to-Coast hardware store. It was red, and was a "Coast King". No training wheels for me, by brother took me to a small hill, gave me a push, and whoosh! Away I went.

    Rode it that way for a couple of years, then as was in style in the 60's, we bought a banana seat and high rise handlebars, and converted it to a "stingray". As the years went by, I outgrew that bike, but it was never thrown or given away. Many years later, when we visited my parents, my dad had a local kid give the old bike a tuneup, and my own son rode it while we visited.

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  38. My first bike was a 24" wheels, red & white one from the local hardware store. Thirty five years ago, a built up a touring bike and ended up traveling all around the country including Mexico and Alaska on it. It really did create an interest in motorcycling later in life. The most miles I managed on that bicycle in 24 hours was 200 (double centuries). Now I can cover more ground in less time with a whole lot less effort.

    BTW, I still have the bike and it does get used regularly... Good stuff lasts a long time...

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  39. I have a prototype 26 inch 15 speed BMX Mongoose a local bike shop told me the BMX Corp. salesman left. I have never been able to find another like it.

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  40. Schwinn Racer, bought new in 1971 for $94 from Burlingame Schwinn in the Bay Area. 26", 3-speed hub. Loved that bike. I saved all summer to buy it, and about the fifth time I rode it to school, it was stolen. I think Larry Barrett took it, but I have no proof. Replaced it with a Gitane 10-speed, then later with a Peugeot PX-10. Of those three bikes, the Racer was my favorite. Haven't ridden a "bike" since.

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